


Remember How to Waltz

by vdova



Category: Marvel, Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky can't stop staring at Natasha, F/M, Fancy Dress, Someone taught Natasha how to count cards, Undercover Missions, Undercover as Married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vdova/pseuds/vdova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In their first undercover mission together since being reunited, Natasha and Bucky find themselves at a black tie event with the goal to break up a gambling ring. Hopefully, Bucky hasn't forgotten how to dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember How to Waltz

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Freckled_Halos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freckled_Halos/gifts).



> When I see a prompt of 'fancy dress', I feel like I have an obligation to write about it. Thank you to freckled_halos/bucksomebarnes (on tumblr) for the prompt!

“I don’t remember the formal wear being this… tight.”

Natasha cocked a brow up at Bucky, making a motion for him to take her bag before brushing a few stray hairs off his shoulder. “They always had you in military formal dress, not suits. SHIELD has a habit of being a tad more subtle, hm? It’d be very out of place to see a military man at an illegal gambling ring.”

Bucky sighed dramatically, shaking his head like she’d just told him a funny joke. “I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a few that had some sort of-”

“James?” Natasha tapped a hand on his chest, “We’re here for a reason. Can we?”

There was a short pause as Bucky gapped a moment. It had been decades since the two of them had gone undercover together, but that’s not where his mind was. He was more caught up with how beautiful she looked. There wasn’t a single instance in his time of knowing her where she wasn’t the most beautiful person he’d ever seen, but there was still something awe inspiring of the way she cleaned up for black tie undercover work. Knowing full well what was going through his mind, Natasha had already turned and was making her way towards the front entrance of the very legal party that was the cover for the ring they were there to break up. It took Bucky a few moments to pick his jaw up off the ground, but he quickly recovered enough to wrap an arm around her waist and get into character.

Getting through the door was easy enough- Natasha had secured an invitation through a member of her web- but Bucky couldn’t help but be in awe of her. He hadn’t expected things to go back to the way they had been a lifetime ago, but she’d only improved in their time apart. The initial party that was acting as the cover for the ring seemed to be just the element she always worked best in. Not even a few minutes in the place, and Natasha had maneuvered a security key out of a guard (without him noticing, of course) and incapacitated another one by taking his knee out. At one point, it felt like Bucky was just there to hold her purse while she beat the hell out of everyone, but he wasn’t about to complain. Especially when the pair ended up on the dance floor to avoid a security guard that was getting suspicious.

“Hope you remember how to dance,” Natasha murmured, hand wrapping up around Bucky’s shoulder to rest in his hair.

“With you? How could I ever forget?” he shot back, hand falling around her waist like it hadn’t been 50 years since they’d danced.

The first step was shaky and awkward, but that probably had to do with his body having been used as a weapon instead of as something soft like dancing. His instincts told him to grab the nearest guard and slam him against the wall until eyes were unfocused and raw, but a side glance at the head of red hair pressed against his chest calmed the adrenaline pumping through his blood. She smelled like gunpowder and the musky lotion she always put on after showers. There wasn’t a moment he could think of where he felt more alive.

“You know, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” the words came from his mouth before he could stop them, but the look on Natasha’s face as she stopped moving and glanced up at him was worth it. It took a lot to catch her off guard, but damn that look was close to it.

“I know, but you could stand to say it more.” Covering up her shocked feeling with flippant disregard, just as he’d expected her to. “Come on. We have to show these kids how the waltz is supposed to be done.”

The dance wasn’t long enough. Bucky could feel the silky feel of the black dress she had on, and Natasha couldn’t help but run her hand down his neck and along the shoulder that met up with his metal arm. As the music swelled and came to a close, her hand made its way down his arm until their hands were intertwined as the last chord dissipated into the ballroom.

A beat, then Natasha inhaled and breathed out. “How about we go break up a gambling ring? We can dance more afterwards.”

Bucky wrapped his arm around Natasha’s shoulder as the pair headed towards the false wall under the stairs. Both took up the swagger of someone who had maybe had one too many glasses of champagne. The security key was stashed in Natasha’s bag with one of the two guns they’d snuck in and slung back over her shoulder. A quick and believing lie about ‘medication’ needing to stay on her person kept the small red clutch in her possession, but then they had to get into the office of the big guy.

“We could always rush the back room,” Bucky murmured against Natasha’s hair as they made their way through the card tables, “Even if we don’t make it through, they’d probably drag us back to face this mob boss or whoever he is.”

Natasha shook her head, offering a smile to one of the card dealers as she spoke, “No, they’d probably execute us and present our heads to the man. We need to approach this with some finesse if we want to take this location down along with the leader. Come on- I’m playing black jack, and you’re going to be my arm candy.”

He didn’t have nearly enough time to put together exactly what Natasha meant, until he was being drug to the nearest table and Natasha was propping one of his hands up on her shoulder.

The card dealer gave Natasha a confused look, though he didn’t hesitate in dealing her in. “Husband letting you play a few rounds? See if you can win back however much that dress is worth?”

The question would have been a death sentence under different circumstances, but in this instance, the sexist quip was met with a tinkering laugh and a faux-woozy hair flip, “ _His_ luck hasn’t been that great today, so I figured I’d try and salvage some of his dignity. And maybe some of our vacation money.”

The game played out in a way that Bucky had expected. The first few rounds were hit or miss with Natasha winning, but somewhere around a pair of aces, he noticed a trend as the dealer started to get more upset. Her winnings were just enough to keep her winning, but she really was slowly making more than the dealer. Bucky went into high alert as the dealer made a motion towards another dealer, and in a few moments, the pair were being drug into a back room and left alone.

“How were you winning? It’s not like you have sleeves to hide cards in,” Bucky said the moment the door closed behind them.

Natasha opened her mouth to respond, but a door on the other side of the room slammed open before she could say anything. A large figure walked into the room with a very bloody set of brass knuckles in his hand. “Your little wife here was counting cards. Now I don’t know how you thought you were going to get away with it, but-”

The man that the pair had come to take out got just close enough to Bucky for him to kick his legs out from under him before slamming a fist into his throat. Natasha was back on her feet and pulling the gun out of her bag, pointing the gun at their targets face while calling base for an arrest. “I thought we were going to get you alone. Word of advice, big man- don’t underestimate women who wear heels bigger than your ego.”

The cleanup of the casino went off without a hitch after they took down the head of the group running the thing. Natasha and Bucky stuck around long enough for another agent to show up and take over. On the drive home, Natasha threw her feet up on the dashboard. “You have an impressive set of skills, but I’m still in awe of your ability to do all of that in six inch stilettos.”

Natasha chuckled, nudging the mentioned heels off and dropping them on the floor of Bucky’s car. “Funny thing about being a woman undercover- you’re expected to do everything the men do, but wearing a sexy dress and heels. Or, in the case of tonight, do everything for both partners.” She shot him a look that he didn’t see, a smile on her lips, “What gives, James? Too rusty?”

“The last few decades of my life have been spent as a weapon. They don’t really teach you how to be a good date when you’re an assassin.” Though that line of thought didn’t work very well considering who was sitting in his passenger seat.

“Go ahead and make excuses. Now, what kind of takeout are you feeling? Because the food at that party smelled like it came out of a dumpster.”

The rest of the evening went down like most of their post-mission nights- passed out , on the couch, with some crappy movie playing on the television and Chinese takeout boxes scattered all over the coffee table. This time, however, they did so still dressed in their fancy clothing.


End file.
